Tiago Gomes da Rocha
|birth place = Goiânia, Brazil |job = Security guard |pathology = Serial Killer Hitman Bank Robber |mo = Varied Shooting |victims = 39 killed 90 victimless robberies |status = Incarcerated |time = c.-August 2, 2014|sentence = 630 years in prison|capture = October 14, 2014 }} Tiago Henrique Gomes da Rocha, a.k.a. "The Goiânia Killer", is a prolific Brazilian serial killer, one-time hitman, and bank robber. Background Gomes da Rocha never knew his father and lived alone with his mother and grandparents. He claimed that he was sexually abused by his neighbor at the age of eleven and was a victim of bullying. However, he stated that he felt anger towards women because he was never loved by anyone; this resulted in a constant "rage against society", which he could only suppress by committing murder. At some point in his life, he started committing robberies around the city; after his arrest, Gomes da Rocha was successfully linked to 90 robberies. He became a security guard at a maternity hospital; his coworkers described him as a timid man who rarely spoke. His childhood friend claimed that, before he got his job at the hospital, Gomes da Rocha would roam the streets alone, drinking. His girlfriend said that he was a shy individual, but caring towards her. She also mentioned that he had an unusual habit of closing his eyes and covering her eyes with her own hair whenever they had sex. A neighbor told the press after Gomes da Rocha's arrest that he was not hesitant to show his disturbing behavior to others, which included staring at women. Murders, Arrest, and Incarceration On November 9, 2011, Gomes da Rocha met a 16-year-old named Diego Martins Mendes at a bus terminal and lured him to a wooded area to have sex. Instead, Gomes da Rocha says he was overcome with murderous rage as they walked to the area and, as a result, strangled Mendes to death, burying his dead body there; it was never found. Later, Gomes da Rocha killed two more men, his coworker and a blue-eyed man he met at a party, both of whom he believed were homosexual. In an attempt to have more ways to kill, Gomes da Rocha stole a revolver and ammunition from his work, using it to kill the majority of his victims. Gomes da Rocha proceeded to kill more people over the course of two years, especially vagrants and women, including prostitutes. Because of his differing victimologies and varying M.O., the local authorities never managed to link his crimes until his capture. Sometime in 2013, Gomes da Rocha sent a letter to the local investigators, claiming he was a serial killer who had killed eleven people, and that any unsolved murders committed by stabbing were his work. Because of the fact that Gomes da Rocha used different motorcycle plates during his shootings, investigators initially believed that the murders were being committed by local drug dealers or that the cases were simply unrelated. The public made the assumption of a serial killer being active on the region in May 2014, but the police only saw this as a rumor. Minutes after Gomes da Rocha murdered his last victim, Ana Gomes, police noticed that Gomes da Rocha's motorcycle plate was stolen. Gomes da Rocha was tracked down and arrested on October 14, 2014. After being interrogated, he confessed to the murders. In his house, police found his revolver, which matched the ballistics of bullets found at the scenes of the shootings. Following his arrest, the police department told the people of Goiânia that they had arrested Gomes da Rocha and had even created a task force with the intention of closing his case, consisting of sixteen commissioners, 30 investigators, and sixteen scriveners, despite their aforementioned earlier disbelief in his existence. Two days after his arrest, Gomes da Rocha attempted to commit suicide by slashing his wrists with a broken lamp bulb, but failed. Gomes da Rocha was sentenced to at least 630 years in prison. Modus Operandi During his initial serial killings, Gomes da Rocha only targeted men he thought were homosexual, either strangling or stabbing them to death. After killing three victims, Gomes da Rocha drastically changed his M.O. to shooting vagrants in the head as they were sleeping, using a 38.-caliber revolver he had stolen from his work. Occasionally, he killed people who were not homeless. In his final and most infamous kill cycle, Gomes da Rocha would approach women on the streets, especially beautiful brunette women, and fatally shoot them with the same revolver, mostly in the chest region, but once again occasionally killing people who did not fit the profile. In order to conceal his identity, Gomes da Rocha would wear a black coat and helmet, exactly like the one he would wear during his robberies. He constantly changed his motorcycle's license plate in an effort to not be identified by witnesses or security cameras. Profile Doctor Katia Mecler, hailing from the federal University of Rio de Janeiro, diagnosed Gomes da Rocha as a misogynistic psychopath suffering from antisocial personality disorder with narcissistic and histrionic traits. She also added that Gomes da Rocha only attempted to commit suicide because of his own narcissism and frustration. Forensic psychologist Leonard Faria mentioned during an interview that he had two theories on why Gomes da Rocha had a varying victimology: to not create a stable victim profile or to fuel his sadism, and he did not see his murders as destroying the lives of others, but as a way to destroy his own feelings against the victims he targeted. Faria also profiled him as a mixed killer lacking any psychotic symptoms, including schizophrenia. Known Victims **November 20: Aleandro Santos Miranda, 35 *2012: **Unspecified date: Unnamed man, 20 **Unspecified date: Unnamed homeless man **Unspecified date: Unnamed homeless man **Unspecified date: Unnamed prostitute **Unspecified date: Unnamed man, 20 **October 12: Valdivino Ribeiro, 56 **November 5: ***Paulo Sérgio Xavier de Bastos, 44 ***Marcos Aurélio Nunes da Cruz, 34 **December 11: Thiago Fernandes de Carvalho Machado, 22 **December 12: Michel Luiz Ferreira da Silva, 28 *2013: **January 16: "Woodpecker" **February 9: Wesley Alves Guimarães, 39 **August 19: Edmilia Ferriera Borges, 18 **December 13: Ana Rita de Lima, 17 **December 15: Ana Karla Lemes da Silva, 15 *2014: **Unspecified date in February: Denilson Ferreira de Freitas, 36 **Unspecified date in July: Adailton dos Santos Farias, 23 **January 18: Bárbara Ribeiro Costa, 14 **January 19: Beatriz Oliveira Moura, 23 **January 28: Arlete Carvalho, 16 **February 3: Lílian Mesquita e Silva, 16 **March 10: Taís Pereira de Almeida, 20 **March 14: Ana Victor Duarte, 26 **March 28: Mauro Ferreira Nunes, 28 **April 23: Wanessa Oliveira Felipe, 51 **May 8: ***Janaína de Souza, 24 ***Bruna de Sousa Gonçalves, 26 **May 23: Carla Barbosa Araújo, 22 **June 1: Isadora Cândida dos Reis, 15 **June 15: ***Thamara da Conceição Silva, 17 ***Taynara Rodrigues da Cruz, 13 **June 20: Pedro Henrique de Paula Souza, 19 **July 19: Rosirene Gualberto da Silva, 29 **July 25: Juliana Neubia Dias, 22 **July 27: ***Mateus Henrique Rodrigues de Moraes, 13 ***Karine dos Santos Farias, 15 **August 2: Ana Lídia Gomes, 14 }} Notes *His surname is Gomes da Rocha, not Rocha. It is of Portuguese origin. On Criminal Minds *Season Three **"Lucky" and "Penelope" - While Gomes da Rocha has yet to be directly mentioned or referenced on the show, he appears to have been an inspiration for Jason Clark Battle - Both were serial killers involved in law enforcement and chose their victims at random before shooting them with .38 revolvers in drive-by shootings. Sources *Wikipedia's article about Gomes da Rocha *Murderpedia: **Article about Gomes da Rocha **Article featuring pictures of Gomes da Rocha and a timeline of his crimes *Fusion's article about Gomes da Rocha *The Daily Mirror's article about Gomes da Rocha *List of Gomes da Rocha's victims (PORTUGUESE ONLY) *Second list of Gomes da Rocha's victims (PORTUGUESE ONLY) *Dr. Katia Mecler's diagnosis on Gomes da Rocha (PORTUGUESE ONLY) *Interview with Leonardo Faria (PORTUGUESE ONLY) *''Câmera Record: O Matador de Goiânia ''(2017) Category:Real People Category:Real World Criminals Category:Real Life Killers Category:Real Serial Killers Category:Real Hitmen Category:Real Life Child Killers Category:Real Life Narcissists Category:Incarcerated Real World Criminals Category:Unreferenced Criminals Category:Real Foreign Criminals Category:Real Life Psychopaths Category:Real Bank Robbers Category:Real Life Sadists